Car-coupling.



No. 662,359; Patented Nov. 20, I900.

. UPKINS.

v COUPLING. (A1) lica. ion filed June 13, 1900.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

No. 662.359. Patented Nov. 20, I900.

. J. M. HOPKINS.

R coummsj (Aflnlimtion filed June 13, 1900. (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet2.

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wit i waw UNITED I STATES JAMES M. HOPKINS, OF FROSTVILLE, ARKANSAS,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LEE WALLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,359, dated November20, 1900. Application filed June 13, 1900. Serial No. 20,209. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JAMES M. HOPKINS, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residin,i, at Frostville, in the county of Lafayette, State ofArkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Couplers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear,and exact description of theinvehtiomsuch as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to car-couplers; and one object is to provide adevice of this nature which shall be self-locking and which may beunlocked from the platform of the car.

A further object is to provide a construction which shall be cheap ofmanufacture as well perfect in operation.

With these objects in view I have constructed a device of this naturesuch as is described in this specification and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of my in vention.Fig. 2 is a sectional line XX of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section;and Fig. Ais an elevation of the open end of the draw-head, showing aportion in section.

by referring now to thedrawings,n1y invention comprises a draw-bar 2,having a drawhead 2 formed thereupon. As seen in Fig. 3, a partition 3extends into the draw-head, thereby dividing it into two compartments 4and 5. The compartment 5 is considerably the larger of the two, andatits outer edge is pivoted a knuckle 6, which is substantiallyU-shaped. The link 6 may swing freely upon its pivot 7, and when it isin its locked position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, its inneredge rests against the extremity of the projection 3 and a stop 8, whichextends into the compartment 5 for this purpose, and adjacent the stop 8is a helical spring 8, which bears at one end upon the wall of thecompartment 5 and at the other end upon the rear side of the jaw 6 ofthe knuckle 6. This spring will hold the link normally in an openposition, as shown in solid lines in Fig. 3. The compartment 4 hassubstantially parallel walls, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4E, and thiscompartment contains alocking-dog 9. The

dog 9 is somewhat elongated and one of its ends is adapted to extendbeyond the projection 3, as-shown in Fig, 2, and it is provided with anupwardly-directed arm 10, which extends above the draw-head and into thebox 11, mounted thereon. The upper end of the arm 10 is slotted, asshown in Fig. 2, and through the slotted portion passes a shaft 12,which is secured at its ends to the opposite side of the box 11. Alsoprojecting upwardly from the dog 9 is an. operating-rod 13, which passesthrough a perforated lug l4, and a helical spring 15 is disposed uponthe operating-rod 13, one of its ends being seated upon the dog 9, whileits other end bears against the under side of the lug 14.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Assuming that two cars tobe coupled are provided with couplers made in accordance withmyinvention and that the parts of my coupler are in the position shownin solid lines in Fig. 2 and in dot-ted lines in Fig. 3, the two carsare brought together and the jaw 6* of each coupler engages the jaw 6 ofthe opposite coupler. This will force the last named jaws against theouter ends of the dogs 9, which will move them rearwardlyinto theircompartments. When the jaws 6 have reached the position shown in thedotted lines in Fig. 3, the dogs 9 will be returned to their normalposition by means of the spring 15, and when in this position they willlie against the extremities of the jaws 6 and will prevent pivotalmovement of the knuckles. From this it will be seen that it will beimpossible t'or the two cars to be drawn apart, as when this isattempted the ends of the jaws o will bear upon the ends of the dogs 9,and as these will be forced against the outer wall of the compartment411; will be impossible for the jaws to swing upon their pivots. When itis desired to nncouple the two cars, the operating-rod 13 is raised.This will raise the dog 9, and when the lower limit of the slot in thearm 10 has reached the shaft 12 the dog will be clear of the lower wallof the draw-head, and it will then swing rearwardly and be drawn out ofengagement with the end of the jaw 6". The cars may then be drawn apart,and when this is done the links 6 will swing upon their pivots and theirjaws 6 will become disengaged. The operatingrod 13 may then be released,and when this is done the spring 15 will cause the dog to resume itsnormal position, as shown in Fig.

2. The operation of coupling the cars may then be repeated.

It will be readily seen that I may make my invention of any suitablematerial and that I may make slight alterations in the constructionherein shown and described without departing materially from the spiritof my invention.

Having now fully explained the invention, what I claim is In acar-coupler the combination with a head having a partition dividing itinto compartments, of a stop in one of the compartments, a knucklecomprising angularly-disposed jaws and pivoted in said compartment withthe stop, said knuckle being adapted to be moved to cause one of itsjaws to lie against the stop and partition, a spring disposed againstthe knuckle and the inner wall of the head to hold the knuckle yieldablyprojected, a bodily-movable dog adapted for movement into and out of thepath of movement of the jaw that contacts with the partition and stop toalternately lock and release the knuckle, a box upon the'head and havinga perforated lug therein, a shifting-rod passed through the box and lugand engaged with the dog for moving it, a helical spring disposed uponthe rod and resting with its ends against the dog and lug to hold thedog normally and yieldably in its locking position, an arm extendingupwardly from the dog and into the box and havingits upper end slot-ted,and a pin engaged with the box and the slot of the arm for limiting themovement of the dog. I

In testimony whereof Isign my name, in the presence of two subscribingwitnesses, on this 14th day of May, 1900.

JAMES M. HOPKINS.

Witnesses:

N. P. SANDERSON, E. E. WILLIAMS.

